Vanyel's Moving Castle
by Keiko-keket
Summary: In the land of Valdemar, war is coming, and rogue wizards roam freely throughout the wilds. And rumors have it that the famous Vanyel is back to eat the hearts of the beautiful. Tylendel, a young hat-maker isn't afraid, because he isn't beautiful at all.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own either Mercedes Lackey's characters, nor do I own Howl's Moving Castle.

Chapter 1:

One foggy morning near the city of Haven, capital of Valdemar, a shepherd guiding his flock out for the days grazing was scared witless by a sudden grinding noise. Looking around, he and his sheep let out cries of alarm at the appearance of a large moving castle moving around in the haze. In mere moments the smoke bellowing castle was once again lost in the fog, but there was no one there to witness it - the flock and its master had scattered towards the nearby forest.

As the sun began to rise higher in the sky and the fog burn off, the sounds of the city coming to life again permeated the air. Deep inside the city, in a modest hat shop, one young man was already hard at work. Long blonde hair was tied back in a tight braid to keep out of his eyes as his slim fingers tied on a variety of adornments onto his latest project - a pretty little mauve sunhat that many a young lady would enjoy. His hazel eyes squinted as he made a final knot before cutting the string. Turning the hat a few times to see it from all angles he gave a satisfied sigh, placing it on top of a pile of hats that he had already finished.

As the clatter of the first wagons came by under his window, the first sounds of life in the shop began downstairs. The ladies who worked in the shop chattered gaily about everything under the sun as they laughingly began to collect the finished hats from the day before and take them back downstairs to the actual shop. Sharing waves and faint smiles with some of the older ladies, the young man stood up and stretched before brushing bits of sparkles and glue off his apron.

"Morning 'Lendel." the plump, straight-backed woman who was his boss wandered into the room that was his personal workshop and began to peruse his works.

"Good morning madame." he murmured back, sitting back down and flipping through a pile of hats he hadn't worked on yet.

"How long have you been up young man?" the older lady scolded, knowing Tylendel's work habits.

"Just a couple hours. I wanted to get a few extra done today since Sovvan is coming soon and..."

"Never mind that, boy. Have you even eaten yet?" she demanded, picking up a hat that caught her eye. In response, 'Lendel's stomach gave a timely growl. Chuckling at the blush on the young mans face, the older lady made a shooing motion with her hands.

"That would mean yes, its time for breakfast. Why don't you go pick up something for all the ladies and something extra for yourself from the bakery?" Seeing the rather mutinous look on her charges face, she frowned at him. "You've already done so much work this morning. Go on, take a break and visit your friend. I'm sure he's been missing you since you've holed up here so much."

With a final attempt at protesting thwarted, Tylendel ended up down in the shop waving good-bye to all the ladies as he closed the front door. Giving himself a quick once-over to make sure he was presentable, he jumped off the steps and headed further into town. His long legs ate up the back street he was on, but he was forced to stop once he hit the main street. Even for the early morning commute of merchants it was packed.

"What's going on?" he asked an older man standing beside him trying to look over the crowd.

"The first troops back from the fight with Karse just got back. The King's gonna be holding a celebration for their return."

With a quick calculation in his head, Tylendel figured it would be faster if he went through the back alley's than face the crowd, he gave a quick thanks to the man before turning for the first alley. Anyone not born and raised in the city of Haven would never be able to make it through the back alley maze of the city, and for once Lendel was glad that he knew the city so well. A quick burst of cheers caught his attention at one of the intersections with the main spiral road. From where he stood he could see Valdemar's troops marching proudly back to the palace and the many happy citizens waving makeshift banners and hats.

Turning his attention back to where he was going, he barely missed running into a rather tall man who leaned casually against the wall in front of him.

"Oh, damn. Sorry about that." he apologized while stepping to the right to go around. He frowned as the man followed his steps and grinned.

"Ain't no problem, kitty." the man rasped, voice lost to what was clearly too much smoking by the cigarette dangling from the side of his mouth. From behind him stepped another man, rounder at the waist than the first but with the same grin pasted on his face. "We should be the ones to apologize. How bout somethin t'drink?" the first man laughed, elbowing the other in the gut.

"No thanks. I've got to get going. My... sister is waiting for me." Lendel, feeling worried back up a step or two, considering running out onto the main street and cutting around.

"A sister eh? We could take the both of you out. C'mon, kitty, it'll be fun." the first man leaned forward, placing a dirty hand on Tylendel's shoulder. In a flash, the blonde boy smacked the hand away and backed up further.

"No, seriously. Leave me alone." he hissed at them defensively.

"Lookit that. Kitty's got fangs." the fatter one laughed, stepping forward with a crude club appearing from behind him. Tylendel swore internally as his back hit a wall.

"There you are, ke'chara. I've been looking everywhere for you." A voice appeared from beside them. All three men turned, startled, as the speaker had managed to step up beside them with no one noticing. He was shorter than Lendel by at least a head, with straight shoulder length blonde hair and green eyes, and wearing a flamboyant coat of blue and red patchwork across his shoulders. A white cotton tunic was visible underneath, and a green gem matching the boy's eyes rested above his breast on a silver chain.

Lendel's attackers seemed to take immediate offense, as the pudgy one with the club hefted it to attack. But the short man smiled calmly up at the two dirty men and made a complicated gesture with his hand. The two froze, before their bodies seemed to move on their own, straightening up, turning away at the same time and marching off down the street.

Amazed, Tylendel stared at them until they were out of sight before turning to the younger man, who was giving him a sunny smile.

"I do hope you don't mind me interrupting, but it seemed as if you were in need of assistance." his saviour spoke clearly with a faint accent able to be discerned.

"Oh, no, thank you." Lendel stuttered momentarily, stepping away from the wall and brushing himself off. To his dismay, there was a greasy stain on his shirt where the man had touched him.

There was a slight pause as the shorter man watched him. To Lendel, this was where someone would normally introduce oneself, but the other seemed to be thinking of something.

"Just on chance that those men come back, would you like an escort to wherever you are going?" the green eyes watched him from under a fringe of blonde bangs as the man held out a crooked arm gallantly.

"Err... no, I'm just going to the bakery. I should be -" he was interrupted as the other man grabbed his arm and started to drag him along. Tylendel was about to protest when the shorter man looked up at him.

"I'm sorry, but I was being followed and now that I've spoken to you, you're in danger. I'll get you where your going safely, I promise."

Looking over his shoulder, Lendel gasped as he saw oily monsters coming out of the stonework near where they were standing and start to give chase. Turning back around, he swore softly as more were coming out of the stones a few meters ahead of them. And both sides were closing fast. Turning a quick corner, the two narrowly escaped the monsters, but to Lendel's horror, they were once again coming out of the walls ahead of them.

"Hold on." the younger man warned, wrapping an arm around Tylendels waist. With a slight crouch, he pushed off as if he were just jumping. But Lendel felt... magic around him and faster than he could blink the two of them were soaring over top of the buildings of Haven. Shocked into stillness, he couldn't help but stare at the many tiny figures of people under his feet as they cheered and danced.

"Now, straighten your legs and walk." his rescuer's voice snapped him out of his daze, and doing as he was told began to walk on air. Between the two of them, they started to move forward. In moments, the upstairs balcony of the bakery was in front of them and with a gentle swing, the strange wizard landed Lendel on the balcony while he stood on the parapet.

"I'll draw them off. You stay here for a bit until the coast is clear." the wizard smiled down at him as Lendel nodded a speechless assent. "Goodbye, ke'chara." he bowed before turning and leaping off into the crowd below. A quick glance over the side from where he stood, the stranger was already gone from sight.

Lendel stood there, still shocked by his encounter. Unbidden, the sight of the others leather clad posterior came to his mind and his face flushed.

_Oh shit. _Was all that came to mind.

Long minutes later he was snapped out of his daze by the sound of feet rushing up the stairs. The door beside him banged open and Mardic, one of his closest friends, who also worked at the bakery came hustling out.

"Lendel! Is it true what the guys downstairs are saying? That you floated down from the sky with some guy?" The burly young man demanded. Just looking at Lendel and the dazed look on his face told him his answer.

"Tylendel." he scolded. "You're so lucky. If that were the wizard Vanyel, he would have eaten your heart. You have to be more careful."

"Mardic, that wouldn't happen. Vanyel only eats the hearts of beautiful people. And besides, whoever that wizard was was very kind, because he rescued me." Tylendel defended.

"Lendel, you know I love you and everything, but sometimes, you're just so... stupid. Promise me you won't go falling in love with this one. I mean, you had such a hard time with Nevis and all, but a wizard is a much worse choice."

Lendel cringed at the reminder. "You don't have to worry Mardy. I promised myself I wouldn't fall for anyone again." He firmed his belief on that and no matter how handsome his rescuer was, he refused to allow himself the belief that someone as beautiful as that had any other intentions for him other than just being kind. After all, in his mind, Tylendel was rather plain.

Mardic sighed. "That's not what I meant, Lendel..."

But Tylendel just smiled and patted his friend on the back. "Come one. I came to buy breakfast for the hatters. What've you got for me this morning?"

________________

Much later that day, as the sun set and the last of the customers had left, Lendel locked the door with a relieved sigh. As he'd predicted, with Sovvan coming, the shop was much busier than normal and many of the hats were gone. He stretched, heading upstairs to make a few more hats before morning came.

He'd just put on his apron and sat down when a jingle from downstairs caught his attention. Descending the steps two at a time, he looked in on the shop to see a tall man standing in the centre of the room. From what Lendel could see in the dark, the man wore black clothes to match black hair with pale skin and perfect features. The other thing wrong with the man was his eyes. The black eyes were so horribly cold.

Feeling uneasy, Tylendel stepped into the shop. "I'm sorry, but we're closed. I was so certain I locked that door..."

The man, instead of leaving, stepped closer, letting his gloved hands - also black- reach out and touch one of the hats on a stand. But the entire time, the cold eyes rested on Lendel's face.

"What a plain little shop." the man's voice was cultured, but also cold. "With such plain little hats." he stepped in close, and the hand that was touching the hat came forward to lightly grasp Lendel's face. "And you, youngling, are the plainest thing in here. I don't see what he sees in you."

Confused but angry, Tylendel stepped out of the mans grasp and past him to the door. "I apologize if we don't meet your exacting standards. Here's the door. Please leave." and he opened the door, glaring at the rude man.

"My, daring aren't you, speaking to the Wizard of Darkness like that." a calculating smile appeared on the taller man's face. Lendel felt like he had been doused in ice water. He'd heard of the Wizard before - one of the most dangerous men alive, even more so than Vanyel. The man had a penchant for torturous spells that left people maimed for life, and yet unable to die.

The Wizard cleared the space of the shop in an instant, grasping Lendel's face in a tight grip. From under the gloves, Lendel thought he felt something sharp, like talons. Meeting the man's eyes, he was terrified, because of the satisfied pleasure staring back at him. With a whispered word from the older man's lips, Lendel was forced into a strong kiss. He struggled, but the grip was too strong. As his knees gave out from fear, the Wizard of Darkness let go and with a catty smile, pushed him onto his back with a boot.

Stepping over him and out the door, the black haired man purred, "Give my regards to Vanyel." before dissapearing from sight.

And that was when the pain hit Tylendel like a wave, and he was overcome by darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The aches and pains filling his bones brought Lendel back around. Blinking the spots out of his eyes, he stared at the ceiling for a good long moment, wondering if he'd really been attacked by the Wizard of Darkness. Finally, he decided he had to get up and see if he really was maimed like the rumors said he would be. Sitting up, he felt all the bones in his spine creak and protest to moving and he cringed in pain. That's what he got for laying on the floor for god knows how long. He glanced down at himself after the tears of pain left his eyes and in that moment knew there was something wrong with him.

It was his hands to start. The skin was... old. Splotched and wrinkled, the nails cracked, and the joints much larger than he remembered. He stared at them unnerved for a long moment before forcing himself up to look at his reflection in the shop mirror.

An old man stared back at him. His blonde hair was gray with age, his skin just as wrinkled and spotted as his hands. The only part of him that he recognized was his eyes - amidst the wrinkles they were the same hazel colour they'd always been.

"Oh my gods. Is that me?" he whispered to himself and cringed as his once youthful voice rasped. He sounded... ancient.

In a sudden panic he stumbled towards the back room. "Stay calm Lendel. Stay calm." he muttered to himself. "It's all a bad dream. Go to sleep and when you wake up it'll all go away." He paced the length of the store, going from the mirror to the back room once more, unable to believe that it was his reflection.

"I've got to stay calm." he muttered, but the hysteria was creeping into his voice.

Morning came, and Tylendel had managed the steps during the night to lock himself in his room. The hats he'd laid out the day before remained untouched as he curled himself in a blanket on his bed. He hadn't been able to sleep all night, frequently looking at himself in the mirror and whimpering every time he saw his aged reflection.

The sounds of the women downstairs did little to reassure him. He couldn't let them see him like this - after all, if someone found out that the Wizard of Darkness had been here and cursed him, no one would come to the shop, or he'd be kicked out of town or something.

Loud noises downstairs caught his attention, and through the floor he caught one word that he dreaded hearing. "Welcome back Master Staven!" the ladies practically squealed. Lendel groaned. It figured his twin brother would finally come back to Haven with such bad timing. And he was right, because not even a minute later, his brothers heavy steps were coming up the stairs.

"Lendel? Is something wrong?" his brothers deep voice came through the door as if it wasn't there at all. Staven, even after all the years that Tylendel had spent apprenticed to the hat shop always came to visit and make sure they'd been treating him right. Their parents, having Staven as the heir to their family name, were leery about keeping Lendel around. And when they'd found out he preferred men to women for relationships, namely through the Nevis affair, they'd packed him up and shipped him off to some no-name apprenticeship where he wouldn't embarrass the family any longer.

"I'm fine Stav. I've caught this nasty cold, so I'm going to stay in bed today." he lied. He felt guilty, after all, his brother cared about him dearly. But this was something, he decided numbly, that he'd have to take care of himself.

"That's one hell of a cold you got there brother. You sound like some ninety year old man." came through the door.

Lendel rolled his eyes at the irony. "Thanks for that Staven. Look, you go out and enjoy yourself. I'm going to go back to bed."

"If you say so." was the elder brother's reply before the sounds of his footsteps went back down the stairs.

When the only sounds from the shop downstairs was the normal murmur of the girls, Lendel levered himself off his bed and looked at his reflection one more time.

"It's not so bad... being old." he tried to convince himself before looking at himself more seriously. "I can't stay here though."

He thought about it for a moment before deciding to see Donni. Mardic's lifebonded love lived out in the wilds with her teacher, learning magic. Maybe she'd be able to lift whatever spell was cast on him. With aching bones, he slowly and, as sneakily as he could, got downstairs and out the back door.

The early morning hours went by slowly as he tried to make as much speed as possible. But just after the noon hour, he realized that the idea of just walking out by himself wasn't going to work. He was already tired and he hadn't even made it out of the city. When he was younger, he'd have already been out of Haven and halfway to Donni's place.

One good thing about being old, he decided, was that people in general were nicer to you. A quick word with a nearby farmer who was heading out of town got him a free ride on the back of a hay cart. He made much better time after that, reaching the city limits and beyond while the sun was still high. He rode the cart all the way to the farmer's stead, where the nice man gave him a quick meal. As he readied to leave, the farmer and his wife tried to convince him to turn around due to a large amount of rogue wizards roaming the forests further on. After thanking them for their concern, Lendel kept on.

He kept walking until his aching body forced him to rest. Looking back he sighed. He could still see Haven in the distance, for all that he felt like he must have walked miles, he sure hadn't gone anywhere fast. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a stick poking out of a bush. Measuring it in his head, he stood up slowly.

"That might make a good cane." he spoke to himself. Grabbing the end of it, he pulled hard, but it didn't move. Twisting and turning it didn't help much.

"You're one stubborn branch, aren't you?" he sighed loudly, but still more determined than ever to get it unstuck. With a final heave, he pulled it up and let go of it in surprise. It wasn't a stuck stick, it was a stuck scarecrow. The patched clothes were dusty and old looking, and the face had a bland smile on it with a pipe sticking out of it and a raggy hat perched on top.

_Wait a minute..._

"How are you standing up on your own?" he stared up at it. The scarecrow remained stubbornly silent. Looking at it closer, he nearly laughed.

"You're head is made of a turnip. I've always hated turnips." he spoke to it as if it were sentient. "Oh well, best be going. At least you're not upside-down anymore." Lendel sighed and turned back to the road ahead of him. If he was going to make it to Donni's any time soon, he'd have to keep going.

Time went by, and the sun began to set. A cold wind started up, blowing right through his clothes and setting his achy joints on fire. He turned and despaired, because he still hadn't made good distance. Movement caught his eye, and he did a bit of a double take. There was the scarecrow he'd just rescued, hopping towards him.

"Oh gods, go away! I've had enough of magic to last a lifetime! Go and, I don't know, sit in a field or something! Seriously, you don't owe me a thing!" but the scarecrow didn't stop until it drew level with him and dropped something down beside him. Glancing at it, he was pleased to see it was a cane for him to lean on. Feeling a sheepish gratitude, he turned back to the scarecrow.

"Thanks. You didn't have to do that... say, could you do me another favor, and find me a place to stay for the night?" the scarecrow paused in its hopping for a moment before spinning around and hopping off. Lendel waved after it, glad to be rid of the magical turnip-head.

He began to regret getting rid of his only companion as night came on and everything got colder. Grumbling about how he was fatter now and yet was colder than ever, he had to sit as he felt the last of his energy draining out of him. He huddled down on the road, trying to keep himself warm.

The faint smell of smoke caught his attention. Maybe there was a cabin or something with a fire? Dragging himself slowly to his feet, Lendel forced himself to continue on.

But, just over the hill he was about to cap, came a sight he dreaded seeing. A large, moving castle, black smoke billowing from its smokestacks. And the scarecrow he thought he'd been rid of in front, leading it straight to him.

"You stupid turnip-head!" he yelped, "That's Vanyel's castle! That's not what I meant when I asked for a place to stay!"

The castle, just about standing right on him stopped, letting off a large burst of steam and smoke. Tylendel got a good, up close look at it.

"They call that a castle? Its so.... ugly." he stated wryly to himself.

The castle seemed to take offense to that, picking itself up and starting to continue on. It passed over Lendel's crouched figure, and as he followed it with his eyes, he saw a door sticking out from it's backside. The scarecrow leaped towards that door, and looked as if it were trying to point it out.

"Is that the way in?" Tylendel called out to it. He made up his mind. He was tired, hungry, cold and he ached. He'd fight Wizard Vanyel if he had to to get in there, but he needed to get out of the cold badly. With a brief burst of adrenaline, he gave chase.

At first, he thought he wouldn't make it, being old made running hard. But he managed to catch the banister to the stairs and heave himself on, banging his already pained knees painfully. Letting off a few colorful curses, he looked back at the scarecrow still following him.

"Thank you for everything, but I don't think you should come in here with me! Have a good life Turnip-head!" Lendel turned back to the door and cautiously opened it. Inside were more stairs, and from what he could see, the place was a sty. Peeking over the top of the stairs, his thoughts were confirmed, from the cobwebs covering the ceiling to the bookshelf and desk littered with papers and food and other oddities sticking out of them. The only part that looked even the remotest bit clean was a wooden chair sitting near an open fireplace, where a low flame was keeping the room pleasantly warm and a red love seat pushed up against the far wall.

"What a dump. When I think castle, I don't think... this." he muttered, but seeing as how there was no one in sight, he let himself in to sit on the chair near the fire. After throwing a couple logs on top of the remaining few bits of burning wood, he leaned back and let the heat seep into his body.

"One good thing about getting old is nothing seems to frighten you anymore." he muttered to himself as he felt himself doze off.

"That is one nasty curse you've got on you young man." a feminine voice came from out of no where. Jolting back into alertness, Tylendel looked around for the source of the voice.

"And let me guess, it's the type that doesn't allow you to talk about it." Tylendel turned back to the fire and stared, as there was a rather horsey face peering up at him from the flames. Or rather, the flames WERE peering up at him.

"Holy gods, the fire can talk." came out of his mouth before he could stop it.

"Well, yeah, no kidding. You're a bright one, aren't you?" The fire stared up at him dryly.

Letting that comment slide, he leaned closer. "Are you Vanyel?" he asked.

"Havens, no. I'm a powerful fire demon. You can call me Yfandes." it... she said cheerfully, one of the blue eyes in the fire winked at him.

"A fire demon? Well, if you can see the curse, can you break it?" he asked, feeling hopeful.

"I could, but what would there be for me in that?" came the mocking answer.

Tylendel paused, frowning.

"Here, I'll make a deal with you, kiddo. If you can break the spell that's on me, I'll break the spell that's on you." long strands of fire came up and gestured as if they were arms and hands.

"If you're a demon, how can I trust you? Do you promise you'll help me if I help you?" having heard most of the stories involving demons and double-crossing those who helped them, Tylendel was feeling decidedly leery at helping the little fire monster.

"Ehh.... demons don't do so well with promises." came the cautious reply.

Lendel snorted and shrugged. "Well then, I suppose you'll have to find someone else help you break your spell."

The fire surged a bit in clear agitation. "Oh come on, please? Because of this spell, I'm trapped in this castle and Van treats me like a slave. Pleaaaase?" Yfandes added the extra begging in the hopes that it would sway the young man stuck as an old man.

Tylendel, now that the scare of the fire talking to him was ebbing was starting to fall asleep. "Alright, I'll help, but if you back out on me, I swear I'll throw the biggest bucket of water on you I possibly can."

The fire crackled loudly, stunned by the audacious human. Who was now asleep.

"What the hell did I just get myself into?" she asked herself.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Morning came again, and Tylendel was woken up by a persistent banging on the door. Trying to sit up he cringed as every inch of his back protested to having slept on a wooden chair all night. Sudden footsteps sounded, and the stairs above him which he hadn't noticed last night showed a pair of skinny legs as someone came flying down them. Pretending once again to be asleep, he felt someone pause beside him.

"Who's this old guy?" a young girls voice came from right beside him and he was proud of the fact that he didn't flinch or anything.

"Forst Reach door." Yfandes voice came from the fireplace. Tylendel heard the girls footsteps scuttle away and he took a chance to peek out between his lashes to take a look at her. Curly brown hair was completely untamed upon a heart-shaped face and brown eyes. The little girl, who couldn't have been more than, say, eight, wore a simple green dress with red borders, and a gold colored belt with a large pouch attached to her hip. Whipping a cloak off the table, causing a small avalanche of stuff to fall off, she pulled it up over her head and did... something, because in the next moment the face of an old lady appeared and she hopped down the steps to the door still being knocked on.

"Stand by." an old lady's voice came out of the girl, and she twisted a coloured knob that was connected to the door. A separate dial was posted above the door, and mimicked the dial the girl was turning. From being the green side of the dial, it switched over to blue and the light outside the window changed. Pulling the heavy wood door open with her entire body weight, Tylendel could see two rather official looking men standing there.

"Mr. Mayor, good morning." the little girl spoke up in her old voice. "Can I be of service?"

"Yes, well, we're here to speak to the great Wizard Jenkins. Is he in?"

"Unfortunately, my master is not currently in. Can I take a message?"

The one who must be the mayor held out a sealed letter. "An invitation from King Randale. The time for war is upon us, and His Majesty requires all witches and wizards to report for duty. That is all. Good day."

As the mayor and his helper turned to leave, Tylendel got up from his seat to put more wood out for Yfandes. "I can't believe it's come to this." Tylendel murmured to himself. He'd heard of the disappearance of Karse's Prince Medren a few months back like everyone else, and the news that the Karsites blamed the Valdemaran's for the young man's vanishing had stirred up a mess of trouble. Sure, the troops that had just returned were the first to the border, but war had yet to be declared, so they returned from their period of active duty unharmed. Now things were going to get bad, especially if His Majesty threw all the magic folk into the mix.

"And what do you think you're doing here, Grandpa?" the little girl, still wearing her disguise had closed the door and come up the steps while Lendel was lost in thought.

"Yfandes invited me in last night." Tylendel assumed a harmless look on his face.

"I did not!" Yfandes protested. "He came in by himself from the forest last night."

"He's from the forest?" she asked as she pushed back her hood, causing her disguise to vanish. "How do we know he's not some rogue wizard going to try to harm Uncle Van?"

_Uncle?_ Tylendel thought.

"Do you really think I'd let another wizard in here? Dealing with Van is hard enough." Yfandes crossed her 'arms'. At that moment, a bell jingled. "Forst Reach again" she intoned, looking mildly cross.

"A customer?" the little girl asked herself as she was sticking the invitation away in a book where both she and her 'Uncle Van' would never see it again. Pulling her hood back up and turning her disguise back on, she descended the steps.

"Stand by." she said before opening the door. Another little girl was standing there, in a homespun dress looking nervous.

"Can I help you?" the old lady voice asked again.

"Uh, yes, we've come for our usual spell." the little girl reached up to toy nervously with one of her braids.

"Ah yes, come in. I'll get that ready for you right away." the girl in the green dress led the way up the steps and shot Tylendel a look. "Don't cause any trouble Grandpa." she warned under her breathe. Tylendel only felt a vague amusement that the pint sized girl had such few manners as to threaten the elderly. His attention was diverted though, as the window caught his attention. Slowly making his way over with the help of his cane, he peered outside and gasped.

Outside the window was not the forest he was in the night before. Acres of plowed land and grassy hills dotted with cows herds and horses were all he could see up until it hit a large manor. From the distance they were at, he could tell it was a mish-mash looking building, with many parts added onto what originally looked to be a fortress. Small forms that had to be people rushed around the building.

"Huh. How did I get here?" he asked himself quietly, but caught the attention of the 'customer'.

"Excuse me Mister, are you a wizard too?" she asked innocently. Tylendel grinned.

"Oh yes. I'm one of the fiercest ones out there. Muahaha!" he let of a burst of pseudo maniacal laughter, making the little girl burst out into giggles. That was when the disguised girl came back from mixing stuff.

"Here, put this in the feed and your cattle should be healthy again for another season." she held out a large bottle, which the little girl exchanged for coin.

"Thanks. See you next time." the girl curtsied and hurried down the steps, closing the door behind her.

The curly haired girl pulled off her hood. "Stop telling lies to the customers." she pouted.

"Me? What about you? You're wearing a disguise." Tylendel pointed out.

"I have to. I'm practicing my magic." and the doorbell was rung again, catching both their attention.

"Haven door." Yfandes called from the fireplace. The girl pulled her face back on and went down the steps.

"Stand by." she said as she turned the knob to red. Opening the door, there was another man in uniform, this one of the blue of the Royal Guard.

"Excuse me, is this the residence of the great Wizard Pendragon?" the man asked politely.

"It is." the little girl said.

"Please inform your master that His Majesty the King requires all witches and wizards to report to him as soon as possible."

"It shall be done." she bowed him out. Tylendel was curious, and after descending the steps marveled. They were no longer out in the fields, but back in Haven, in an entirely different section of town.

"How did we get back here?" he pondered as the girl went back inside.

"Hey! Get in here or lose your nose!" she yelled at him. He huffed, but back up just in time to avoid getting hit with the door. She shot him another look as she pulled off her disguise. "And stop wandering around." before stomping up the steps.

Tylendel watched her go before getting a mischevious look in his eyes. After all, that neat magic knob was right in front of him, and he didn't have to wander around to touch it. Switching the knob to green, he opened the door.

As he walked out, he was covered head to toe in a fine mist. As he looked around, he realized that this was the door he'd come in from the night before. He stepped back inside, turning the knob to blue. Opening the door again, he stepped outside into Forst Reach and took a quick look around before heading back in. With a laugh he closed the door and prepared to turn it again when he heard someone clear their throat.

The little girl, standing up top of the stairs was glaring down at him. "Leave it alone Grandpa. You're making me mad."

And just because he knew it would make her mad, he played senile. "This is a magic house, isn't it?" he chuckled as she growled. "So tell me, where does the black one go?"

"Only Uncle Van knows." she sniffed as she stomped off to the desk covered in food. "I need some breakfast. I'm starved." She pulled open a drawer, and reached down up to her elbow before pulling out a loaf of bread and a chunk of cheese. Tylendel came up behind her as she wandered over to the cluttered table and lifted a lid. There were thick fresh slices of bacon underneat, and beside it a basketful of eggs.

"Don't you want to have bacon and eggs?" he asked, concerned over the lack of nutrition in the silly little girls diet.

"Yea, but we can't touch the fire because Uncle Van isn't here." she said as she pushed a pile of books and looseleaf paper out of the way to put her plate down. Tylendel grabbed the bacon and eggs and wandered over to the wall, where frying pans were hanging.

"Don't worry. I can cook." he said cheerfully enough as he headed for Yfandes.

"It doesn't matter if you can cook. 'Fandes only listens to Uncle Van." she argued back.

"That's right, listen to Jisa. I only do what Van says. I'm not taking any orders from you." Yfandes stuck out a tongue made of fire.

"Oh please. Maybe you want a bucket of water in your face?" he leaned closer. "Or maybe I should just tell Vanyel about our deal?" he winked. He'd never seen a fire get huffy before, but Yfandes drew herself up and put her 'hands' or her 'hips'.

"Are you stupid? I'm a scary and powerful fire demon. I don't cook." she said flatly.

"Oh, don't be silly. You're a fire. Fire's cook. So what'll it be, hmm?" he shoved the frying pan towards Yfandes, who tried to resist but ended up falling under the pan. "That's right. That's a good fire." he said as he reached for his basket of food.

"I am so going to burn all your bacon." Yfandes pouted from under the pan.

"I think I'd like some tea too. Do you have a kettle?" he asked the girl, now named Jisa, who had, at that moment, been staring at Lendel open mouthed.

"Uhh.... yea, sure. Just a sec." she hopped from her seat and went in search of the missing kettle.

"Wait, wait! Jisa, what're you doing? Don't look for the kettle! You're supposed to be on my side!" Yfandes called after the little girl.

At that moment, the dial above the door switched to black, the door opening to reveal a blonde head of hair.

A blonde head of hair that Tylendel recognized.

"Welcome back Uncle Van!" Jisa dropped the kettle to give her Uncle a hug around the waist. She leaned back, and smiled up at him. "The kings messengers both sent messages. You're supposed to appear before the king as both Pendragon and Jenkins."

_Holy gods. It's him._

The same flamboyant jacket and the same green eyes. The same black pants (with the same nice behind, Tylendel remembered, trying not to blush) and green gem around his neck. His mysterious saviour from two days ago. Was actually the Wizard Vanyel.

_Oh shit._

He quickly turned back to cooking as the blonde man, who ironically enough, now stood taller than him in his old age, noticed him and came closer. He looked between the old man frying bacon and the fire.

"'Fandes, you're being so obedient." you could hear the laughter in his voice.

"Not on purpose! He bullied me!" the little fire demon flailed around the bottom of the pan.

"Still, not just anyone can do that." he smiled down at the gray haired man. "Might I inquire as to your name?"

Tylendel froze for just a second, before looking up into those pretty green eyes. "You can just call me... Stefen. I'm your new cleaning man, my first day on the job." he gestured with the spoon he was pushing the bacon around with at the rather large mess of the room. He didn't want to give Vanyel his real name, and Stefen was pretty close to Staven, so he wouldn't have too much trouble remembering it.

Instead of answering that, Vanyel swept closer to him. "Here, give me that." he gestured to the pan and spoon. "Pass me two more bacon slices and six more eggs." he asked, and, stunned by the softness of Vanyel's hand and scent, Tylendel - no, Stefen, he reminded himself - did as he was told. As Van cracked the eggs, he tossed the shells down to Yfandes, who chewed them up with obvious delight.

"So then, who hired you to clean?" Vanyel asked, not taking his eyes from the food he was cooking.

"Uhh... Yfandes did. She's disgusted by how dirty it is in here."

"Hmm...." Vanyel turned around and looked down at his niece. "Jisa, get the plates!" he told her, and she scurried to grab what was needed, obviously ecstatic to get an actual breakfast. "Come have some breakfast Stefen!" she called, liking him much better now that he got her some tasty food and her Uncle seemed to approve of him. Wiping the plates off with the sleeve of her dress, she set them down on the table.

The dirty table, Stefen realized once he sat down at it. There were old crumbs and stains that had been there who knows how long. Brushing clear the area he sat at, he watched as the little girl set cracked bowls in front of everyone and poured tea into them.

"I've got alot of work cut out for me." he said to himself.

Jisa held out one slightly dirty fork and two slightly dirty spoons. "Pick one. The rest are dirty." she commanded. Picking one of the spoons, he cleaned it off with the side of his shirt as Vanyel pushed a plate of bacon and eggs his way.

Vanyel, cutting a loaf of bread and handing the slices around lifted his tea cup. "So, friends, enjoy." he gestured with his cup and they mimicked him, before digging in.

Stefen was just cutting into his as he watched Jisa. She leaned down and literally bit into the bacon before shovelling as much egg as possible into her mouth before chewing, dribbling bacon fat down her front.

"A lot of work cut out for me." he grimaced. He brought a mouthful of egg up only to be interrupted by Vanyel.

"So, what is that that you have hidden in your pocket?" he stared straight into Stefen's hazel eyes. Surprised, he reached down and touched his pocket and found to his amazement, that there was actually something in it. Pullling it out, he saw it was a folded piece of black paper.

"What's this?" he asked himself.

"Give it to me." Vanyel demanded, so Stefen passed it over. Just as their hands met, black fire leapt from the paper. They both recoiled and it landed on the table disintegrating but leaving a message scorched into the table.

"Uncle Van! Are you okay?" Jisa looked to her uncle worriedly, as he cradled his burnt hand.

"Yes, fine." he said, his eyes scanning the words. "You who swallowed a shooting star, o heartless man, your heart shall soon belong to me." he muttered.

"That's from Leareth, isn't it?" the little girl looked alarmed.

"Whether it is or isn't, the scorch marks aren't any good for the table." With that, he put his hand over the mark. Stefen could feel the power building in the air, and it made the hair on the back of his neck stand. With one final burst of power, Van swept his hand to the side and the mark was gone.

"Wow! It's gone." Jisa looked awed.

"The mark may be gone, but the spell is still there. Excuse me you two." Vanyel said, getting up from his seat and pulling his jacket closer to him. Grabbing his plate, he poured his entirely untouched meal into Yfandes waiting mouth. "'Fandes, move the castle sixty miles to the west." he trotted up the stairs only to reappear at the top. "Oh, and prepare hot water for my bath." he commanded.

"What?! Again?!" Yfandes moaned, even as she chewed her breakfast.

As Vanyel disappeared upstairs, Jisa turned to Stefen with a suspicious look. "You're not working for the Wizard of Darkness are you?"

Stefen snarled at her. "I would never work for that man! He's the one who-" he was cut off as his jaw clamped shut and no matter how hard he tried to tell the little girl what happened to him, the words couldn't make it out of his mouth. FInally he gave up, pounding his fists on the table. "Damn that bastard! If I ever get my hands on that wizard I'm going to wring his gods damned neck!" he sat back down and started shoveling food in his mouth. He had work to do.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A mere few hours later, Jisa sat outside of the Forst Reach door guarding all the valuable equipment that they'd pulled off the first floor before Stefen began his rampage. And rampage it was, the old man being surprisingly fast when it came to cleaning. Dust and dirt and bugs flew out the and windows while Stefen cursed up an unintelligible storm. Jisa was sure it had something to do with Leareth, the Wizard of Darkness, but she couldn't be sure.

Meanwhile, Yfandes, her woodpile burned down to almost nothing was begging for more firewood. Then she saw what would be one of the most horrifying sights in her life. Stefen coming at her with a pair of tongs and a container.

"Wait, what the hell do you think you're doing? I'm gonna fall! I need wood! Stefen, hurry! I'm falling!" she yelped as she held onto her wood for dear life. Stefen, ignoring the annoying fire demon, continued to shovel ashes onto a tarp. He turned away to pull the heavy ashes out, and that was when the dried wood Yfandes was on snapped in two and with a puff of smoke, she went out.

When Stefen came back inside, Vanyel was there at the fireplace, with fresh wood down and bringing his fire demon back to life. He stared at the well groomed hair and polite yet frigid expression on his new employers face.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't torment my friend." he said in a calm voice, but Stefen could tell that he was hiding his anger.

Vanyel headed for the door and leaned out to talk to his niece.

"Jisa, make sure the cleaning man doesn't get too carried away." Before he shut it, turned it to black, and left. The door dinged back to blue and Jisa came in, looking bewildered.

"Stefen, what did you do?"

"He almost smothered me!" Yfandes complained from her place on the fire. "I'll have you know that if I die, Van dies too!"

Stefen stomped by her. "Oh shut up. I've got a job to do." the fire demon cringed back as he kept walking past her and headed for the stairs. Jisa darted forward and blocked the stairs from the irate old man.

"Wait, don't come up here yet!" she yelped.

Stefen lost his angry look and smirked. "Anything you don't want me to clean, you better hide it now."

With a gasp and a quick look upstairs, the little girl dashed upstairs calling down, "Save my room for last!". Stefen chuckled. Then he looked up the stairs and saw how dirty it was up there too. He padded up the first flight of steps, and opened the first door he saw. "What a mess!" he cringed back from the thick stink of chemicals. Looking in, the bathtub was a multicolored mess of dyes and mould. He turned and noted the toilet wasn't much better. Gagging on the smell, Stef staggered over to the small window and pulled it open.

Leaning out, the cloth he was using to tie his hair back was whipped off. He didn't notice though, too busy staring off the side of the moving castle. Way, way down below was a cliff and below that, a river. The lush green forest they were moving through was beautiful and smelled of so much crushed pine.

"This... this is amazing!" he exclaimed, dashing out of the bathroom to the top of the steps. Jisa, who was just coming out of her room saw him and slammed the door shut again in alarm, but he barely noticed.

"Yfandes! 'Fandes, are you the one moving the castle?" he called down to the irate fire demon.

"Of course I am! No one else does any work around here, after all!"

"My gods, 'Fandes! You're doing an amazing job! You're a first class fire demon!" he said before dashing back upstairs. Yfandes, caught totally off guard, stared after him. "You really think so?" she perked up, then flared with happiness. "Ha! He really thinks so!"

Outside, the burst of power from Yfandes sped up the moving castle. From upstairs, Stefen, who'd found a balcony, was gazing at a beautiful blue lake, with snow-peaked mountains behind it and rolling green forest before it. The clean air whipped his hair out of its braid, and for once, he didn't care about being messy. The sight was breath taking.

Jisa, who realized Stefen hadn't been heading for her room came out to lean on the parapet and look out.

"It's beautiful out here." Stefen sighed.

"That? It's called Star Lake. It's always been that way." she shrugged with the frankness of a young girl.

Just then, they both noticed a stick stuck in one of the legs of the castle. They looked at each other, before moving to pull it out. The stick was stuck fast, but with quite a bit of heaving, they managed to flip it over.

The stick was Turnip-head, the scarecrow. It hopped off the balcony and down onto the ground, just as Yfandes stopped the castle on the coast of the lake. After explaining to Jisa that Turnip-head was just following him around, the two of them headed inside, Stefen fully intending to use the lake to wash the mountain of dirty clothes that two people should really not be able to create.

_______________

Much later that night, after the laundry had been done, everything brought back inside, and the two cleaners deeply asleep, the door dinged softly to black and opened. For a moment nothing happened, before a figure of shadows appeared at the top of the stairs. With each step, it - half-bird, half-man creature became more solid until it was able to collapse bonelessly into the chair in front of the fire. Putting it's talons up, it relaxed as the door clicked shut and switched back to blue.

"Are you okay Van? You smell terrible." Yfandes asked quietly from the fireplace. Van's laboured breathing increased and his body froze in pain. But slowly, it reverted back to his normal appearance, the talons shifting to shoes, the wings shifting to his sleeves and his hair changing back to blonde. When the change was done, he relaxed even further, looking exhausted.

"You shouldn't keep flying around like that. Soon, you won't be able to turn back into a human." she said, concern in her voice. She turned to the side, and looked at a newly stacked pile of firewood kept within arms reach. She grabbed one and pulled it towards herself happily. "Isn't this great? Stefen did this for me."

Van, frowning with lingering pain, undid his jacket so he could move about.

"This war is terrible. They've got demon priests attacking everyone from one end of the border to the next. It's all in flames now."

"I can't stand those little demons those priests use. No brains whatsoever."

Van smiled ruefully at her. "I was attacked by my own kind today."

"What, was it Leareth?"

"No, just a bunch of crack-wizards who turned themselves into monsters for the king. I got too close and they thought I was the enemy."

"Those guys are going to seriously regret doing that later, when they can't change back."

"'Fandes, after the war is over, they probably won't be able to remember that they WERE humans once." she tilted her head. "Hey, weren't you supposed to meet with the king too?" she asked.

"I'm tired." Van changed the subject abruptly. "Make some hot water for my bath."

"What? Again? Jeez, you're completely taking advantage of me, you know."

But Vanyel wasn't listening. He'd walked over to the curtained alcove that had his loveseat and pulled back the drape. There, sleeping, was Tylendel, young again, and deeply asleep. Van stared at him sadly for a long moment before turning away.

_______

The next morning, Stefen was woken up by the loud noise of blasting water. He pulled his gray hair back into a tie, before pulling his old aching body out of bed.

"Is Vanyel back?" He asked Fandes, who was munching on a block of wood.

"Yep. And he's wasting all my hot water again." she said, sounding angry.

Soon enough, both he and Jisa were going out the front door to buy food for breakfast. Jisa, wearing her old lady disguise, was complaining.

"I don't see why we're doing this. Uncle Van hardly ever eats anyways."

"We're doing this because morning markets are the best time to shop, and because you, young lady are a growing girl and need to eat three healthy meals a day." She stopped protesting at that.

But when they got down to the market, and Stefen was picking through potatoes, she had to say something.

"I hate potatoes."

"Too bad, pay up" he laughed, as Jisa was the one with the money pouch.

And just a short while later...

"I hate fish."

Stefen ignored this, up until when people started shouting. The both of them turned, and saw a force of Forst Reach men coming out of the forest, most of them battered or worse, but carrying a large... thing. It was the largest living creature Stef had ever seen, about as big as six carts and shaped like a lizard with stubby legs. It had a frill of spines around its neck and long sharp claws and teeth. And it was very clearly dead.

The villagers around them hustled away from the market to gravitate around the monster and help the men.

"What IS that thing?" Stefen asked, disgusted by it.  "A cold drake. It's weird though... they shouldn't be down here at this time of year, it's way too warm." Jisa was very nearly standing on the fish display cart to see over the crowd. "Oh, Stefen, can we go get a closer look?" she pleaded.

He shook his head, rather spooked. "No, I think this is more than close enough." Especially when in the crowd, he saw one of the oil men. He froze, but it didn't seem to see him.

"Jisa. One of the Wizard of Darkness's henchmen is here. Stay still and quiet. They both remained where they were for a long minute before the oil man walked away. Stefen wondered how no one could see it, even with the giant lizard there to distract people.

"Come on, its gone. Lets get out of here before it does notice us."

The two of them dashed back to the storefront that was the Wizard Jenkins, went through the door, and changed the knob to a different color. With a sigh, Stefen hobbled over to the chair and collapsed into it.

"I think I've had more than enough excitement for today." he muttered as Jisa offered to get him a glass of water.

That was when Vanyel screamed upstairs. Both Jisa and Stefen jumped as the wizard appeared at the top of the stairs... with bright orange hair and only wearing a towel around his waist.

"Stefen! You've ruined me! Look what you've done!" he wailed as he shoved the orange-ness into Stef's face.

"Oh wow, what a pretty colour." Stefen barely kept himself from laughing.

"It's hideous! You completely ruined my magic potions in the bathroom!" his bright green eyes flickered to silver for just a moment before turning back. Stefen was shocked.

"Ruined? I only organized them and cleaned up a bit."

"Cleaning, cleaning. I thought I told you not to go overboard!" Van fell into the chair with his head in his hands. They could hear him sobbing.

"There, there, its not so bad. We can just re-dye it."

Vanyel moaned sadly, and his hair changed from orange, to bright fushia, before settling into a beautiful shade of black that seemed to set off blue highlights.

"Oh my, you should see this new color Vanyel. It's quite pretty." he tried to comfort the distraught man.

"I give up." Van muttered to the floor. "I see no point in living if I can't be beautiful."

Stefen was going to say something else when the castle started to shake and go dark. The shadows in the room rose up and danced on the walls screaming.

"Van, cut it out. Van, no, seriously, stop it." Yfandes cringed on her wood, trying not to let the shadows touch her.

"What's happening?!" Stefen panicked.

"It's the spirits of Darkness! Uncle Van did this once before when a guy dumped him." Jisa cringed towards Stefen, holding onto his pant leg.

Taking a cautious step towards the sitting man, Stefen reached over and touched his shoulder. "Come on Van, you're alright. We can straighten this all ou-" he stopped talking in alarm as his hand came away covered in sticky green slime. Van seemed to be the source of it, as it covered every inch of his skin. Stefen backed away, horrified.

"Fine. Fine! Be that way! I'll have you know I've never been beautiful in my life!" he said, before storming to the door. "I've had it here, I'm leaving!" and the door slammed behind him as he ran.

The forest was pouring today, and seemed to reflect his mood quite well. Sobbing, he sat down in the wet grass. It took him a moment to realize that the rain wasn't hitting him anymore. When he looked up, Turnip-head was holding an umbrella above him.

"You're the nicest turnip I've ever met." he smiled weakly up at the soaked scarecrow. "How did you ever get to be so nice?"

An insistent tugging forced him to look down. Jisa was pulling on his arm, tears in her eyes.

"Stefen! Hurry! Uncle Van needs you, he's in trouble!"

After being dragged back inside, Stefen saw what kind of trouble. Vanyel had slumped over onto the fireplace and was oozing all over Yfandes perch. Said fire demon was standing on a bit of wood, just above the slime, holding another, drier piece aloft.

"Van, stop. I'm gonna drown!" she stopped her protests when she saw Stefen. "Stefen! Please, for the love of all that's unholy, stop him!"

Stefen wiped the remaining tears from his face and smiled.

"My goodness. What a drama queen."

"Is he dead?" Jisa asked him, scared for her Uncle.  "No, he's just thrown a temper tantrum. No ones ever died of one of those. Come on, we best get him cleaned up."

Between the two of them, they pushed the chair Van was on over to the stairs, trailing ooze all the way. Stefen managed to get a good grip on his arm and shoulder and started to drag him upstairs, sending Jisa ahead to draw him a hot bath. Half way up the stairs he heard a wet PLAP behind him. Looking down, he flushed as he saw the towel, the one thing that was covering Van, laying on the steps. As tempted as he was, he forced himself to not look down.

Then another thought sprung into his head. Jisa. Little girl. And him trying to teach her manners. There was nothing mannerful about an eight year old girl sponging down her uncle in a bathtub.

"Crap." he muttered under his breath, as he pulled he unconcious brunette into the bathroom. "You better damn well appreciate this Van." As he closed the door behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Much later that night, when Vanyel had been cleaned off, shoved into light cotton robes, put to bed and Stefen finally could control his face color, he headed up to Van's room with a plate of food. He knocked on the door politely in case of an answer, but when he got none, he opened the door anyways.

His eyes roved over the cluttered room that looked as if it had been decorated by a magpie. Lots of gems and jewelry, old toys and posters cluttered the walls, and a large vase of some odd flower Stefen had never seen before filled the room with a sweet scent. Almost invisible amongst all the clutter was a king sized bed, and in the centre, looking rather small compared to his surroundings, was Van.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped closer, keeping as quiet as he could.

"Van," he murmured, "I've brought you something to eat, do you want any?" The gold light winked off Vanyel's earrings as he shook his head weakly, not bothering to open his eyes. With a sigh, Stefen left the plate on the bedside table and headed back for the door.

"Stefen, wait." the soft command was issued from deep in the bed. He paused, turning back.

"Did you change you mind?" he asked as he moved closer. Van shook his head again, and in the silence, Stefen unearthed a chair and sat down beside the bed patiently.

A soft hum started above their heads, and curious, Stefen watched as a thick rock that looked like coal lit up and started spinning on its thread. Vanyel opened his eyes to stare at it bleakly before answering the question his servant was about to ask.

"The Wizard of Darkness is looking for me again, trying to find my castle." he said as if it were an ordinary enough thing. Stefen twitched nervously, having no desire to meet _that man_ again.

"That reminds me, I saw his servants in Forst Reach this morning." Stefen replied, seeing no point in keeping it secret.

Van sighed. "All this magic, all these protections, are just there to keep people like him away. I'm supposed to be so strong, but really... I'm just a coward. I don't want to fight them, but I don't want to submit either." he confessed.

"Van... why is the Wizard of Darkness trying to hunt you down?" he asked, the question having bothered him for quite some time.

"I met him before, in the service of the King before he was kicked out... ever since then, he seems to have an obsession with absorbing my power by eating my heart." he looked Stefen in the eyes. "But I can't run much longer, because I have to report to the King as both Pendragon and Jenkins."

"How many alias's do you have?"

"As many as I need to to keep my freedom." Van replied, just looking tired.

"Just refuse the Kings invitation" Stefen shrugged. "It's not as if he can force you to go to war."

"Actually... he can. See that?" Van pointed to the wall above his head at a very official mandate that looked as if it's sole purpose was to be used as a dart board. "That's the oath I took when I entered the Royal Sorcery Academy. It forces me to go to the King whenever summoned."

"Huh..." Stefen looked at it for a moment before an idea hit him. "Y'know Van... I think that you should see the King."

The horrified look on Vanyel's face told him what he thought of that idea. "What???" he spluttered.

"Tell him what you think of this war, that it's pointless, and you refuse to take part. After all, it forces you to report to him, not to actually DO anything." Stefen said, well pleased with himself.

Vanyel rolled his silver eyes. "You obviously have no idea what these people are like."

"But... he's our King. He should want to hear what all his citizens think." Stefen defended.

Van stared at him for a moment, before an idea seemed to take life in his eyes. Launching himself up, he grabbed the old man by the shoulders.   "I've got it! Why don't you go to the palace in my place!" he said, clearly excited.

"Err... what happened to not running away anymore?" Stefen questioned, but Vanyel was up and chattering excitedly, and didn't hear him.

"Just say you're Pendragon's father, and he's too much of a coward to show his face! Maybe then Aunt Savil will give up on me!"

___________

Later that afternoon, a burly man with graying brown hair, brown leather clothes and a thick bushy beard and a growing gut stood near the steps in Van's Castle looking stormy.

"Why the hell do I have to go in there looking like this?" Stefen's voice came out from the strange man's mouth.

"You're supposed to be my father right? Well, that's what my father looks like." Vanyel defended himself from his cuccoon of quilts by the fire.

Stefen gave him a 'yeah right' look, before straightening his clothes one more time and turning to leave. Just as he reached the door, he felt a light weight on his hand. Van had grabbed it and stuck on a silver ring with a ruby on the inside.

"This charm, will guarantee your safe return." he whispered in Stefen's ear, making him shiver. "And don't worry, I'll be following you in disguise." He nodded his gray head, turned the portal to red and stepped out into Haven city. Making his way up the spiral main street to the palace grounds, he wondered how exactly the wizard intended to keep that promise.

"Why do I feel like this is not going to work?" he grumbled to himself. The cawing of crows from above him caught his attention. "I wonder what Van will disguise himself as... surely not a crow."

He passed one of the community wells, the statue above it covered in pigeons. "Pigeons... not flamboyant enough."

In front of him, a lady in a bright yellow dress laughed loudy as she fluttered her eyelashes at a soldier at the gates. He laughed back and let her inside. Rolling his eyes, Stefen said, "That could be him." to himself.

Reaching the gates, he spoke quietly with the same guard and was let in. Passing the wall, he groaned, because the palace was still a fair walk away and many steps up. Sighing, he started towards the palace. Along the way, amidst the many different coloured tunics of students, more guards and servants, Stefen came to the realization that he'd picked up a tag-along. Turning to look behind him, he saw that it was a dog. A pure white poodle with blue eyes danced along behind him, tongue lolling in amusement.

Trying to be sneaky, he whispered to the dog, "Van? Van is that you?" Getting no reply he growled to himself as he kept walking. Coming up beside him was a personal carriage... being drawn by two oil-men. Pushing the black curtains aside, the Wizard of Darkness smirked out at him. Stefen's annoyance became actual fear.

"Well well, if it isn't that plain little boy from the hat shop. Thank you so very much for handing my little note to Vanyel. How is the dear boy, by the way?" he cajoled, pulling out a black fan.

Stefen's eyes did a quick jump to the dog following him, who paid the newcomer no mind, back to Leareth.

"He's a whiny little brat, and he works me to the bone cleaning up after his messes." Stefen glared, his irritation starting to win out over his fear. The wizard chuckled and fluttered the fan, black eyes boring into Stefen's hazel.

"How delightful. And what business do you have at the palace today?" the older man probed.

"Job hunting. I'm sick of working for such a brat." he lied. It occurred to him that if Leareth could see through his disguise, who else could? But it was too late to turn back and he kept moving forward. "What about yourself?"

"I've received a royal invitation from the King himself to aid him in his war." he preened, looking much too satisfied with himself. All Stefen could think of was that this man... was a puffed up brat, just as much, if not more-so than Vanyel. "Goodbye, old man." he laughed nastily, pulling the drape back over the window as the oil-man driven vehicle sped ahead.

Cursing to himself, Stefen picked up his pace, the white dog keeping up with him easily. "What a fucking bastard." he muttered, grinding his teeth together. Up ahead, Leareth's coach passed the last ornamental gate before the stairs. Strangely enough, once passing that barrier, the oil men carrying their master slowly ceased to exist. The carriages door banged open, and the master himself boiled out in a rage. From where he was, Stefen could hear the door guards apologizing and saying something about how petitioners had to make it up the stairs under their own power if they wanted to see the King.

Stefen couldn't help but feel better after that. With a bounce in his step, he made it to the bottom of the stairs, Leareth just above him, and apparently already out of breath.

"C'mon. Let's beat this jackass to the top!" he whispered down to the dog, who barked excitedly before whipping up the stairs with enthusiasm. Making good time himself, Stefen quickly passed the older wizard, who was sweating profusely and having problems breathing.

Making it to the top, Stefen took the proper amount of time to mock the wizard. "Oh come on, an old man like me can beat you up these steps? I thought you were supposed to be some great mage, but it looks as if you're an older man than me!"

"Shut up!" gone was the cultured tones as the wizards black eyes flashed dangerously up at him.

"If I'd brought my cane with me, I'd lend it to you." he waved to one of the door guards who were trying their hardest not to laugh.

By the time Leareth actually made it to the top of the steps, he was breathing hard not only from loss of air but anger, and he brought his hands up to cast another spell on the grinning Stefen. But, the cursed old man was quicker, landing a punch to the wizards jaw, knocking him down.

"Ta now darling! Have a good audience with the King!" he chirped as he massaged his hand. Entering the palace, he could hear the sounds of a wizard cursing and felt immensely better. Once inside, he realized he really had no idea where to go from there. A bark from down the hall, and he saw the dog.

"You know where I should go?" he said the dog, who he assumed had to be Van with how intelligent it was being. It barked again and started forward. He shrugged, having no where else to go, and followed. Through the palace they went, into a solarium, out in the back.

There, an old lady sat, her hair tied into a crown on her head. She would have looked regal if she wasn't sitting in a giant, ugly blue chair.

"Withen!" she barked at him. "I thought you promised NOT to attack that wizard when he got here."

_Withen_? He thought. He made a guess, assuming this old lady was Vanyel's 'Aunt Savil' , and seeing how he was playing Van's father...

"I couldn't help it. The bastard deserved it." he groused, hoping it was the right thing to say.

"Oh yes, getting revenge for your son by punching one of the strongest wizards in the world in the face is a bloody brilliant idea. You do realize you're going to get cursed now, don't you?" she said dryly.

_Oh Lady, if you only knew._

As he drew closer, he saw that the dog had gotten comfortable on the floor beside the blue chair. Savil noticed his gaze and looked down fondly at the dog.

"Gala just came in from the Field, though I don't know why she chose this form. I think she's going to Choose soon."

"Err... that's great." he sucked up his courage again. "Savil... I've been thinking. Maybe we shouldn't force Vanyel to come back and fight in the war. He's such a coward, I just know he'll run away the second things get tough."

The old lady scowled at him. "Withen, we've been through this before. After he's Healed, we need his strength. The wizards are being destroyed by the Karsites. We can't let him choose anymore."

_Healed?_ Stefen wondered. What the hell had happened to Van?

"I need you to promise again, Withen. If you see your son, you'll catch him and find that demon that's eaten his heart. It's the only way that we can ever save him." Savil's body took on a pleading stance. "Now that Leareth is being brought to justice, I'm sure we can convince him to come back..."

A page came in and interrupted them. Waving him over, the boy gave his message to her. It seemed to snap her out of her pensive mood. "Bring him in." she told the boy, who bowed and left.

"Well Withen, the spell worked. You're in charge of him now." Stefen looked puzzled, but the page came back with a little black haired boy in tow, wearing clothes much too big for him. "This is the Wizard of Darkness. We took the demon from him, and now he's the age he was when it took his heart." she looked at Stef expectantly, and he realized that while he was wearing this face, he had to do something about the boy.

Stepping forward, he kneeled down in front of the boy. He looked as if he were just a little older than Jisa, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Giving him a quick look over, he noticed the talons for finger nails were gone and that the boy was shaking in fear hard enough that he looked as if he were vibrating.

"What's your name son?" Stefen asked at length.

"T-treven." the little boys eyes were filled with tears. Stefen felt weird. He definitely hated the wizard Leareth, but little kids with big eyes seemed to get him every time. With a sigh, he wiped the tears from Treven's face with the back of his hand. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you."

"Savil! Where is that little shit! I'll wring it's gods be damned neck!" Stefen's exact clone stormed in angrily. Or rather, it was the origional Withen, whom Stefen was pretending to be. He tensed and felt the little boy tense too, and from the look on Savil's face, she just realized she'd been duped. Withen looked at him and laughed.

"What an amazing double you've made of me!"

Stefen wrapped his arms around the little boy and stood. As he did that, Savil raised an arm and made a symbol in the air, Stef's skin itched and as he glanced down, his disguise was gone. He was, once again, an old man. He was just about to run, when all the glass in the solarium shattered.

Ducking down and covering the terrified blonde boy, when he finally could look up again, there was Van, standing over them.

"Quick, run!" he dragged Stefen up, and pulled him out the door, into the field.

"Van! Wait, please, we only want to help you!" they heard Vanyels aunt yell from back in the glass filled room. Dragging Stefen along, Vanyel ignored her pleas, all the way up until they got to a dark, thickly wooded copse of trees. Finally stopping to catch their breath.

After a long silence, Stefen had to speak up. "Van?"  "Hmm?" came the distracted answer as Vanyel peered at something Stefen couldn't see.

"Are you... err... what I mean is... what happened to you, really, between you and Leareth?" Both Van and the little boy tensed and uneasily looked to the side.

"I... we don't have time for that now." Vanyel avoided the topic. "I know I can get out of here, but you're trapped on the palace grounds with no way out."

:I wouldn't say NO way out: an amused voice sounded in their heads. All three jumped and spun around. Behind them was a tall white, blue eyed horse. Stefen realized it was one of the famous Companions of Valdemar. Near it's dainty silver hooves, stood that same white dog as before, panting happily. The two animals walked over to the group soundlessly. The horse leaned down and nuzzled Treven's blonde hair gently. As the little boy looked up into those blue eyes, all three heard in their heads :I am Tantras. I Choose you Treven.: The look of joy in those blue eyes made Stefen glad that he hadn't left the child back with Withen.

He felt a tugging on his pant leg and looked down. The dog was there, and when he saw those blue eyes, he was lost momentarily in the color. In his mind, he could hear :I am Gala. I Choose you Stefen.: he jerked back in surprise, staring at the amused blue eyes of the dog - no Gala. She winked at him.

:As I was saying,: the voice that was Tantras kept going. :If you Gate us out of here, Vanyel, we can come out anywhere in the forest near your castle. I can get us there in no time.: The horse switched its tail contentedly.

"How do I know you won't help Savil find my castle?" Vanyel growled, getting over the shock of the double Choosing. "I've spent far too long building my defenses for a horse and a dog to bring them down."

:Don't be silly, child. We side with our Chosen, both of whom aren't on high standing with the other Heralds.: the feminine voice of Gala interrupted. :And neither one wants to stay, so let's go already!:

Van looked ready to keep arguing, but Stefen silenced him by putting his hand over the others. "Van, let's just do it, unless you've got some other idea, I don't relish hiding here for gods know how long..." he muttered, feeling the day catch up with him.

"Alright." Vanyel said, after another moment of hesitation. "Let's get to the chapel. That'll be a good doorway." he turned without another word and started through the woods.

They came out of the perpetual darkness practically on the doorstep of a chapel. The quiet of the forest seemed made for the little thing, and after a look around, there was no one to be found.

Vanyel stood in front of it, staring at the door silently. Stefen was about to ask what was wrong, when the outline of the chapel doors lit up and a wooded scenery appeared on the other side.

"Hurry up... get across." Vanyel told them, and as Stefen looked at him, he saw the brunette was under a great deal of stress. He carried the boy across the threshold. He nearly screamed as he felt like he was hanging in a cold, endless void. A moment later, he was across, stumbling out into a little glade with a old burnt out shell of a house - the only thing still standing seemed to be the doorway. Right after he stepped out, Gala and Tantras bounded out, and right after that, Vanyel himself, who looked as if he were about to collapse. He kept himself standing, and turned to look back at the portal, which showed them now the background of the Field they had been in. In moments, that scene was gone, and all they could see was the burnt out house.

Vanyel collapsed on the ground. Stefen cried out, and kneeled beside him.

"Van? Van, what's wrong?" he turned the shorter man over, checking to see what's wrong.

"S'alright. Gate spells take alot of energy." The bleary silver eyes looked up at him. "You'll have to find the way home from here by yourself. I think I'm going to pass out."

"Wait, what? How do I find the way home, I have no idea where the castle is!" Stefen protested.

"That ring I gave you... concentrate on it and it'll guide you home..." Vanyel murmured before his eyes closed.

"Van.... Van?!?!" he shook the man, but Vanyel remained unconcious. Stefen looked up, at the expectant looks of the horse and dog. "Well... shit." he huffed, looking at the ring on his hand. It twinkled innocently. "Concentrate, huh?" Gala nodded encouragingly. It was very weird seeing a dog do that.

He stared hard at the ring, trying to focus his thoughts. Just as he was about to give it up as stupid, the little red gem started to glow. The light flared, and streamed out to the left. Stefen turned to look in that direction.

"Err... okay?"

:It's pointing the way. Come on Stefen, let's pile His Majesty on Tran's back and get going.:

"Oh, right.... wait a second. I can feel you inside my head. Why are you calling me Stefen?"

:I'll call you Tylendel when you call yourself by that name.: came the impish reply and, tail wagging, Gala trotted forward.

Stefen groaned. It figures he got stuck with the annoying dog.


End file.
